Things to do / Travel Guide
Seattle, as the primary tourist destination in the region, has many organized tours where visitors can get a real feel for the city.
Walking Tours
There are many different types of walking tours that take you around the main sites of Seattle, including the waterfront, Pioneer Square, the International District, and Pike Place Market. Some such tours, where you can also learn about the local history, are the See Seattle Walking Tour, the Seattle Walking Tour, and Chinatown Discovery Tours. Tours can last anywhere from a couple hours to a full day, are relatively inexpensive, and may have to be reserved in advance.
One of the more interesting and unusual tours of Seattle is the Private Eye on Seattle tour. Led by Jake, the eccentric private eye, this relatively inexpensive tour takes visitors around to the gruesome sights of the underbelly of the city, with special focus on infamous crimes that have plagued Seattle, as well as some haunted houses.
Food Tours
For visitors in the mood for touring and eating, Chinatown Discovery Tours also offers dining tours of Chinatown's finest cafés and restaurants, where you can familiarize yourself with the area as well as the local eateries. You must be at least a party of four to take a tour with this company, which charges between $15 and $40 per person.
If cooking is your thing, be sure to take the Chef's Tour of the Market. This tour takes visiting cooking enthusiasts on a tour of Pike Place Market, shows them how to sample all the local foods, and makes a circuit of the best of Seattle's restaurants. In addition, local chefs lend their advice in picking the right seasonings and spices from the market and then give a lesson on how to prepare a local dish back at home. The Chef's Tour is only available on Saturdays, lasts about 3½ hours, are moderately priced, and reservations are required.
Bus Tours
From mid-May until mid-October, the Grey Line of Seattle offers a Trolley Tour that passes by the Seattle Center, Pike Place Market, the Seattle Art Museum, and Pioneer Square. People who wish to join can buy an inexpensive one-day “hop-on, hop-off” pass. Other tours offered by this and other companies include narrated sightseeing excursions into the scenic countryside between the region's cities and the Cascade mountains, as well as out to Port Townsend and other small towns on the Olympic Peninsula. Such tours often include stops at wineries, historic homes and villages, or other attractions that are sure to delight visitors.
On San Juan Island, the San Juan Transit company offers a narrated bus tour that leaves from a stop located near the Cannery Landing, East Street, and Front Street. The tour takes visitors around to many of the island's important sites, such as Friday Harbor, and is led by guides well versed in all things local. Tours last about two hours and depart twice daily, at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Reservations are required but prices are reasonable at under $20 per person.
Travelers who want to take in some spectacular views can take a bus tours to some of the famous peaks in the Cascade mountain range. As you travel up towards the summits of places like Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens, your vistas are usually accompanied by the narrative of an experienced guide, giving you a broader perspective and deeper knowledge of everything you see along the way.
Boat Tours
Seattle also offers “Duck tours,” in World War II-era amphibious vehicles that can travel by land or by sea. Duck tours scoot around Seattle before diving right into Lake Union for a tour of the houseboats and for great views of Portage Bay. Duck tours are relatively inexpensive, last about 1½ hours, and leave from the parking lot across from the Seattle Space Needle.
To get more of a feel for nature, you can try a one-day or overnight boat trip out to the San Juan Islands. A few companies offer ferry or catamaran service departing from either the Seattle waterfront or from Anacortes, about 75 miles north of Seattle, and gliding into Friday Harbor, a quaint town that you can leisurely explore for a few hours or for an afternoon and evening. Overnight trips typically include accommodation in Friday Harbor.
Flight Tours
The skies above Seattle are regularly filled with seaplanes that take off from and land in the waters of the Puget Sound. For those interested in taking a scenic flight Seattle Seaplanes offers moderately priced 20-minute air tours. From way up above, you can get a bird's eye-view of some of the region's main landmarks, including the Seattle Space Needle, Mount Rainier, the Puget Sound, the University of Washington campus, the Pike Place Market, and all the bridges and skyscrapers in the city.
|
|
|